Kassegg Castle
Schloss Kassegg is a romantic hunting lodge built around 1886 in the Styrian Gesäuse mountains on the Erbsattel (between Großreifling and Sankt Gallen ). The architectural style and history show parallels to the castles of the Bavarian King Ludwig II . According to unconfirmed stories, a Munich architect, who was also involved in the construction of Neuschwanstein Castle , designed Kassegg Castle and built it for the industrialist Georg Ritter von Aichinger .
Countless renovations and alterations have greatly changed the original appearance of the castle. Some of the elements typical of romantic historicism were removed, such as the most recent (around 2005) the characteristic chimneys. Towards the end of the Second World War , Kassegg Palace was completely looted. Due to an incorrect dating of the construction period, which was postponed to the turn of the century, renovated parts, especially inside, correspond more to Art Nouveau .
history
The history of Schloss Kassegg is poorly documented. Apart from a few old postcards, which can be dated reasonably precisely, hardly any meaningful documents about the castle have emerged so far. This documentation is largely based on personal memories and research.
Around 1885 Georg Ritter von Aichinger , initiator of the Crown Prince Rudolf Bahn , bought the farm with the house name "Kahsegger" on the Erbsattel. The cellar and parts of the stone walls of this farm were integrated into the south wing during the construction of Kassegg Castle. There is evidence of extensive logging in Gstatterboden (in the Gesäuse ) for the construction of Kassegg Castle in 1886 . From 1899 to 1902 static problems on the west tower, which threatened to collapse, led to the major renovation of Kassegg Palace. The west wing was shortened and part of the tower was moved. The castle chapel fell victim to the renovation work.
In 1911 Baron von Carg probably bought Kassegg Castle. Seven years later, in 1918, the last foreign minister of the imperial and royal monarchy , Count Czernin , acquired Kassegg Palace and retired there after the Sixtus affair . In 1938, Kassegg Castle was confiscated by the National Socialists and incorporated into the staff office of " Reich Forest and Hunting Master Hermann Göring ". For this it had several functions in the following years up to 1945, including two years as a children's home for children from Graz. The castle was partly empty during this time and was plundered. In 1946 the heirs of Count Czernin received the empty and damaged castle back, but sold it immediately to a Viennese real estate agent. Around 1948 the farmer Wörnschimmel bought Schloss Kassegg together with the Bruckwirt Alm, an alpine pasture at the foot of the Tieflimauer. Five years later, in 1953, Gustav Franz de Paul Hoffmann acquired the complex with around 4.5 hectares of land (including the overgrown castle park) for 70,000 schillings .
From 1954 to 1964, Schloss Kassegg was a boarding school and special school on behalf of the Province of Upper Austria , before it became the region's leading tourist establishment from 1964 to 1988 as a holiday home for children and young people with 196 beds. Under the management of the married couple Gustav and Gerlinde Hoffmann, the holiday home was able to record up to 35,000 overnight stays per year at peak times. A separate ski lift supplemented the offer for children and youth groups in winter, which for over 15 years also included the European Schools from Brussels .
In 1976 the facade of Schloss Kassegg was renovated and redesigned. In 1979, instead of the long wooden balcony on the first floor, the west wing was given an extension that served as a dining room. In 1983 Wolfgang Hoffmann took over the management of the Schloss Kassegg children's and youth holiday home from his parents, under which in 1988/89 a general renovation and conversion into a modern hotel took place. Then from 1989 to 1991 youth tourism was maintained in the style of a club hotel under the motto “Adventure and Fairy Tale Club Schloss Kassegg”. In 1991, Armin Leebmann from Rotthalmünster bought Kassegg Castle in order to build a spa center from it. From August 31, 1991, Kassegg Palace was vacant.
In 2004/2005 Schloss Kassegg was completely renovated again, whereby the visual appearance was completely changed, for example by removing the typical chimneys. The renovation work was not completed, despite the already invested 4.6 million euros. In 2006, the regional weekly newspaper Der Ennstaler reported that the future of Schloss Kassegg, for which the establishment of an addiction cure facility was being discussed, remains uncertain. The project failed due to the lack of systematized beds for a special hospital. In 2008, Schloss Kassegg was up for sale again for 4.5 million euros.
On March 12, 2011, the “Kleine Zeitung” reported that Kassegg Palace should become “a bed castle” by turning it into a three-star hotel for young people and families from summer 2011. On July 2nd, 2011 the castle was reopened as the “Natur Hotel Schloss Kassegg”.
Stories
- Eyewitnesses reported about the major renovations between 1899 and 1902: “Construction often stood still for months because the owner did not agree with a detail. Then the architect had to travel from Munich and negotiations took a long time before work was resumed. "
- Count Czernin was hunting big game in Africa in the 1920s. From one of these trips he is said to have brought a large gorilla with him who lived in the castle for several years. The population knew how to tell a strange story about the “gorilla in the castle”. The gorilla came to an end when he found a bottle of Sidol (silver cleaning agent) in the horse harness room and drank it up.
- The horns of the hammermith devils have come a long way. Count Czernin also brought back several buffalo and antelope trophies from his big game hunts . Shortly after Gustav Hoffmann had bought the castle, he discovered large trophies with the inscription "OC 1926 Sudan" at an old goods dealer in Waidhofen / Ybbs. There was no doubt: The “OC” stood for Count Czernin and the trophies came back to Kassegg Palace. After the change of ownership in the 1990s, the horns of these trophies were made available to the costumes of the "hammer smith devils" who are up to mischief around St. Nicholas in St. Gallen every year .
Web links
- Homepage Hotel Schloss Kassegg 2011
- Entry via Schloss Kassegg to Burgen-Austria
swell
- ↑ a b c d The oldest photos and postcards do not contain a date, but due to structural changes (e.g. missing third hip dormer window on the west wing), they can be classified in chronological order.
- ↑ a b Johann Sebastian Hoffmann was there at the age of 13 when his father bought the castle in 1953.
- ↑ a b c d e f g Research and memories of Wolfgang Hoffmann, grew up at Schloss Kassegg and co-owner from 1988 to 1991
- ↑ Kassegg Castle was built entirely from bricks. This makes the old stone walls of the former “Kahsegger” farm easy to see
- ↑ Logging for the construction of Kassegg Castle, researched and documented by forester Hubert Walter from Admont in his self-published books “Die Buchau, Chronik einer Waldlandschaft” and “Das Gesäuse in the mirror of the past”.
- ↑ a b Furnishings from Schloss Kassegg are in buildings of the Austrian Federal Forests , including in Großreifling
- ↑ a b From Johann Sebastian Hoffmann: “Before the Second World War, a certain Schmidbauer from Vienna drove his boy regularly to Lainbach to see Klausbauer on summer vacation. The Klausbauer family was quite wealthy as forest and sawmill owners. The two families became friends over time. After the war, the boy grew up and found out that Count Czernin wanted to sell his refunded property in Upper Styria. So the young Schmidbauer drove to his childhood friend Klausbauer and offered him the following deal: If the Klausbauer gave him the money to buy, he would get the forest property above Kassegg. He got in immediately. This is how trading went and Mr. Schmidbauer then sold the various properties around Schloss Kassegg, and finally the castle itself. "
- ↑ "Nightline" should remain . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: The Ennstaler.
- ↑ Advertisements in various newspapers, etc. a. often in the Austrian daily newspaper Standard
- ^ Schloss Kassegg becomes a bed castle. In: Small newspaper.
- ↑ Nature Hotel Schloss Kassegg.
Coordinates: 47 ° 39 ′ 16 " N , 14 ° 39 ′ 53" E